A WITNESS in the inquest into the death of a Crewe motorcyclist said the accident was a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.

Stuart ‘Bugz’ Cartwright died in a collision with a Skoda on the A534 Salters Lane – between the Sandstone Inn and Sailors Lane, on September 21 last year.

The 24-year-old builder from Broughton Lane had been out riding his Suzuki motorcycle behind friend Lewis Cook when the accident occurred around 2pm.

During the inquest, held in Warrington Coroner’s Court, statements were read from a number of witnesses who said they saw two high powered motorcycles travelling in the direction of Wrexham at high speeds.

Amy Marsden was driving her two young children from the Nantwich direction and had just passed the Bickerton Poacher when she heard the sound of a motorbike behind her.

Her statement read: “The presence of the bike intimidated me, continually revving, trying to make me speed up. I had moved out to overtake a bike and the rider seemed impatient and frustrated by my presence. He overtook me fast and then I noticed another motorbike behind me. He did the same and I can’t describe how relieved I was when they had gone past me.”

Alan Griffith Jones was also travelling along the same stretch of 50mph road as part of a convoy from the Wrexham Scooter Club. He said: “We were in single file along the carriageway. I was about to negotiate a left hand bend when I saw the first bike. He overtook me on the crest of the bend at around 70/80mph. I would never have done that overtake and it shook me up a bit.

“Then the second bike did the same going just as fast with no views of oncoming traffic. They were travelling at excessive speed and very close together - I felt they were racing each other.

“Shortly up the road I saw the brake lights of cars, a motorcycle on the floor and a silver car with substantial damage and realised it was one of the riders. I considered it a disaster waiting to happen.”

Harry Nottingham was the driver of the silver Skoda travelling towards Nantwich. He told coroner Alan Moore he had slowed right down as he was looking for a place to turn his car around and had found a suitable place on the opposite side of the road. He saw a motorbike coming towards him and went to turn right behind it as it passed but as he did so, heard a loud bang. He said he hadn’t seen the second motorcycle approaching.

Witnesses further down the road behind Mr Nottingham told the court they had seen two motorbikes approaching but PC Peter McDonaugh from the Cheshire Police Collision Investigation Unit said their views would have been different to Mr Nottingham’s due to his position on the road and his view being restricted by another car in front.

PC McDonaugh also gave detailed evidence from his investigation into the collision and said that Mr Cartwright had been travelling in excess of the 50mph speed limit, anywhere between 52-66mph just before the collision.

Bugz had become unseated from the bike before impact with the Skoda and the bike had travelled in a different direction into a blue Volvo before bursting into flames.

A toxicology report stated that Mr Cartwright did have traces of the Class B drug amphetamine in his system, the effects of which could lead to an increase in risk taking but toxicologist Katie Squires stated that it could not be determined when or how much he had taken and whether it would have had an effect.

Coroner Alan Moore in his summing up, said it was a ‘very tragic and complex case’ and it ‘remained a possibility’ that Mr Cartwright’s judgement through taking the Class B drug could have been affected but they could ‘never be certain.’

He said: “Stuart Cartwright was riding in excess of the speed limit and became unseated whether it was deliberate or otherwise we cannot say. He sustained multiple injuries and would have died instantly.”

He recorded a conclusion that Mr Cartwright died as the result of a road traffic collision.

*The family of Stuart ‘Bugz’ Cartwright paid tribute to the young dad in the Chronicle at the time of the incident last year, expressing how he has left a massive void in the family that can never be filled.

They said: “Bugz was a respectful and loyal family man who worked hard throughout his life. He was willing to put his hand to anything.

“We all miss his moods, his jokes and his laughs. He will be missed as a son, brother, dad, uncle, grandson and friend by all who know him.”

There is also a memorial spot by the accident site, visited regularly by family and friends.